Nana nah nah, nana nah nah, hey hey hey, good-bye… The Washington Post‘s The Fix blog is keeping track of the governor races across the country and maintains a list of the top 15 most likely to change parties. The last time they ranked the states, Michigan was at number six. Today, we’ve cracked the top five. All of which […]

I do believe the Democrats were told to go Cheney themselves In the dead of night last night, Michigan House Republicans passed a bill that would allow the state government to dissolve small school districts facing financial crises. The bills, House Bills 4813 (and a companion bill 4815), was originally introduced in a bipartisan fashion by Democrat David Rutledge of […]

Michigan’s ‘Teacher of the Year’ deserves better than this

In May of this year, Gary Abud, a science teacher at Grosse Pointe North High School, was chosen as Michigan’s 2013-2014 Teacher of the Year by State Superintendent Mike Flanagan. It’s an amazing accomplishment for a teacher who has only been at it for six years. Well-respected by both his students and his coworkers, Mr. Abud was a worthy choice.

To reward him for his outstanding achievement, the anti-union corporatist Mackinac Center — an ALEC and State Policy Network affiliate that is funded, in part, by the Koch brothers — did a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to find out how much money Mr. Abud makes. Once they found out, they proceeded to use him to promote passage of House Bill 4625, a bill I call the “‘Teach to the Test’ Teacher Pay Act”.

Click through for my interview with this amazing educator.

I’ve never been more optimistic. Keep up the activism. UPDATED with links to a new action tool and a petition to be delivered directly to the Senate. See below. I was hopeful, then I was nervous and now I’m genuinely surprised — in the best possible way. I’m thrilled by the number of Michigan Representatives who voted in favor of […]

This is truly an outrage The Tampa Bay Times teamed with The Center for Investigative Reporting and CNN to create an exhaustively-researched list of the fifty worst charities in the country. What you’ll read in the Times‘ reporting and CNN’s reporting will blow your mind. From the Times: Carol Smith still gets angry when she remembers the box that arrived […]

The Dick Cheney of Michigan? Immediately after he was elected in 2010, Michigan governor Rick Snyder brought Richard Baird on board to be his “Transformation Manager”. It’s a new title and position for the state of Michigan and is paid for from the governor’s secret-donor slush fund called the New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify Fund (NERD). Baird, who had […]

Save Michigan’s Public Schools

As I wrote about yesterday, two friends of mine, Rochelle Noel and Betsy Coffia, have organized a huge rally in support of Michigan’s public schools. It happens next Wednesday, June 19th, 2013.

Last night, Rochell and Betsy appeared on the Night Shift with Tony Trupiano radio show to talk about the rally. Tony will be the Master of Ceremonies at the rally. Listen to it after the jump.

Austerity is supposed to be dead but Tuesday night the Senate voted to cut $4.1 billion from the “Heat and Eat” programs that supplement food assistance for seniors and those with disabilities. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) offered legislation last month that would block any cuts to the SNAP program. It was soundly defeated after Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), chair of […]

Working America is the largest coalition of non-union workers in the country. In fact, although it is a project of the AFL-CIO union membership precludes you from being a Working America member yet their ranks are swelling. This week, my pals at Working America unveiled a new website called FixMyJob.com. The site is simple to use; a series of screens […]

An open letter urges conservatives to “sit out” Governor Rick Snyder’s re-election campaign. That’s how much the Michigan Tea Party hates Obamacare. They’d sabotage the Republican Governor’s chances of winning re-election to prove a point. They published an open letter today railing against Gov. Snyder’s continued efforts to convince the Michigan legislature to accept Medicaid expansion. Never mind the fact […]

ForProfitSchoolsFirst Last month, I wrote about yet another Republican attack on teachers in the form of House Bill 4625. This bill, as I said then, would make teachers’ pay primarily based on student progress. Current law says that teacher pay should be using job performance and job accomplishments as a significant factor. House Bill 4625, introduced by Republican Pete Lund, […]